The Next Big Thing: Futurist conference warns never lose sight of the basics

Blippar Brand Partner Jonny Niren attended Ad:Tech’s The Next Big Thing conference in east London, discovering that when it comes to the future of marketing, the trick is to embrace innovation while remembering what we already know.

The Next Big Thing, a conference designed to examine the future of advertising and emerging trends, began with a very powerful (and traditional) message from industry heavyweight Dave Trott: never take your eyes off the consumer.

And this word of warning set the context for the entire event.

In our fast-paced world of shrinking attention spans, increasingly complex technologies and infinite distribution options, core advertising principles remain the same. Chiefly, it’s still all about the consumer, and that’s where all our work must begin: understand the people you’re targeting and what catches their attention; don’t copy others just for the sake of it; never shoehorn new technologies and complex marketing strategies into campaigns targeted at mere handfuls of people that might win awards but make little impact on the real world.

Ultimately, pause to think, keep things basic, be different, and ensure messages are easily understandable. Successful advertising campaigns are all deft combinations of impact, communication and persuasion.

With this lesson ringing loudly in my ears, it was time to hear about the future, but now I was listening with a much clearer idea of how to view the offerings of upcoming speakers.

And what I heard filled me with encouragement. Whether emerging from panels comprising members of tech start-ups, big brands, and agencies, or during presentations about new trends, addressing youth or partnering brands with celebrity talent, the message was consistent and clear: the route to success is to understand people's opinions, interests, characteristics and needs, to assess how these translate into business goals and challenges, and to remain authentic and relevant. If an impressive new technology helps you to achieve those goals, that’s terrific. But you won’t achieve long-term success simply by doing 'cool new things'.

After hearing from everyone else, the scene was set for Blippar’s CEO Ambarish Mitra, who closed the event explaining how Blippar – a young tech scale-up experiencing rapid growth and great success partnering with the biggest brands in the world - is a fine example of this lesson. Blippar’s visual discovery platform is a product implicitly serving one very basic human need: curiosity.

Blippar CEO Ambarish Mitra speaking at The Next Big Thing in east London

Blippar understands it can be difficult to learn more about the things we see around us every day; a mobile app that could scan and recognise objects to deliver relevant, contextual content and information would not only be seriously cool, it would also be phenomenally useful.

Initially, Blippar added digital layers of content to printed pages, branded products, packaging and other marketing collateral. Now, gradually, it is beginning to recognise non-branded objects, such as food, plants, clothes, buildings, furniture and animals. Our aim is to index the entire world, so that whenever we are curious about anything we see, the answer to more information is only a blipp away.

It’s unsurprising that there is a growing interest in using Blippar for 'innovative' advertising campaigns. But as was heard repeatedly during The Next Big Thing, it is crucial that we - and the brands and agencies with whom we work - never lose sight of how our technology should be applied uniquely to each company to deliver relevant, authentic solutions to their consumers; showcasing cool new tech means nothing if it doesn’t have a lasting effect on their business.

Jonny Niren, above, is Brand Partner at Blippar